"Jack, I'm sorry I let you tumble off. I thought you were clipped in," his dragon apologized, looking a little guilty despite him still panting. He hadn’t knocked Jack off his back since their early years on Kilara when he was learning to fly as a young drake. His Attilu didn’t seem any worse for wear, however. "I was earlier, you landed with a thump I came off, but I bounced so it’s fine," Jack replied rubbing his arm slightly, looking up at the gold. "You landed like a rock, though," said Ardon though ragged breaths, still trying to catch up from his high speed flight, “Solid. Not much in the way of bouncing.” "Charming, but I'm fine Ardon, it is you who I should be worried about, you were super impressive, Brathille is growing stronger," Jack said with a smile. It had been a tremendous show of what Brathille could do. Today Ardon had seemed to have actual control over the power it has given him. The shield appeared suddenly when they had been fired upon but the gold dragon had commanded its presence, strengthening it and willing it to remain under the constant fire they had found themselves in.

"Yeah," said the dragon, as if remembering how tired he was. Ardon held up a paw but even just thinking about trying to call back the shield make him weary. That would have to be a test for another day. He let himself sink to a sitting position and let out a shaky breath, his body demanding rest now. "What the hell happened out there?" he asked, shaking his head. The base was still under red alert and the crimson light glinted off his sweat-damp scales. At least the alarms weren’t ringing in his ears. The noise of the chaos they had just come from had been more than enough for the dragon. Jack shook his head lightly, unable to answer his dragon, "I am unsure, only that if it was for your shield, we would of all perished, Brathille kept strong, credit to you," Jack said tapping the dragons shoulder then cringed. "Gross" wiping the sweat off his hand onto his trousers. "Don't call me gross. I just saved the life of the world president," huffed Ardon as a joke, looking down at him in mock resproach, "I think i need a little more respect than that." "I'm kidding you did well, very well, go have a dip in the pool, rest those aches and then I think a good sleep, while I find out what went on. "No, I want to know..." said Ardon as he hefted himself up to shaky feet. "Your in no condition, you need to rest" Jack said as Hitteki came in to check up on Jack and Ardon. "Everyone ok?" she asked. "Alive and well," said Ardon though he looked wilted from fatigue, "Is Mark with the president yet?" "Yes, along with the professor and Guardian Zyra, he having a check-up, Veyron is in the command centre and Vonriir gone to meet Martina" the Syrian explained. "Well we better go meet up with the rest of them then," persisted Ardon, making to head out of the hangar. "Sir, you look very tired perhaps you should rest" Hitteki said as Jack sighed, shaking his head. “I’m fine,” he insisted, walking past her. "You are so like Forge at times you’re scary" the man commented following behind. "I'm nothing like Forge," snorted Ardon, not seeing the similarities himself. Little did he know, the gold was taking after the great silver in more ways than one. Being raised for a number of years by his warlord guardian had left an impression on the young male. He certainly had his uncle’s stubbornness and impatience when it came to important matters. Jack rolled his eyes, "Sure, think that." Ardon’s wings sagged at his sides instead of being tucked up close to the top of his back; the muscles too tired to keep them in their proper place. Despite his fatigue his longer gait moved him ahead of Jack and Hitteki as they walked. He wanted to know what the hell had gone on, and didn’t want to sit back and cool his heels while he waited for answers to come to him. "Sir? Did Ardon light up at all? Martina reported he glowed?" Hitteki asked quietly now that Ardon was out of earshot, not that he was really listening anyway. "That is correct young dragoness," Jack responded. She seemed impressed at this. Once the three of them approached the labs Jack flashed his security pass to the armed guards, though with two dragons in two, clearance was pretty much a given. Inside President Sheridan was standing surrounded by Mark, Melina and Zyra while Sam seemed to be organizing results. Zyra was the first to see their arrival. She gave Ardon an appraising look though she did appear a little concerned. "Oh, hello guys" Melina said treating the cut on Sheridan's head, Mark turned and folded his arms. "I heard you crash landed, shouldn't you be resting up" Mark replied. The dragon tried not to frown, would everyone just stop worrying about him? He just did save the president after all. He wasn’t riddled with holes, just a little tired, "I didn't crash land. I'm just a bit tired, that's all," said Ardon, attempting to be calm and collected, "We just want to know what happened out there. Nothing that happened really made any sense. Our own helicopter started firing at us. Daniel went rogue. What was that out there?” Sheridan spoke hearing Ardon wanting an explanation. "Well Daniel changed personality, he was fine then it was as if he wasn’t himself, I have no idea what went on, he said that we would be getting a lift" Sheridan said. "Which must have been A49 that came and shot at you" Mark added. "I'm guessing local forces are there now. Martina had said something about not being able to see our pilots when she had made a pass." Zyra spoke up. “But I don’t know if that machine can fly unpiloted.” Mark nodded lightly, "Veyron got a report, they found the wreckage and identified it as helicopter A49, plus Daniels body was found near Martins in New York". Overhead calls were going out through the tannoy, but nothing that gave them indication that something was uncovered. The facility was buzzing with activity as other crews rolled out to cover tracks and clean up the scene, closing it off to the public and the media which would undoubtedly be in a frenzy. "Whole thing is unbelievable," the president said. “You’re telling me,” said Ardon though he wavered a little where he stood. “How could their bodies be in New York when we saw them here? Daniel was shot. I saw him fall. How could that not have been him…. Or the thing about Martin. There can’t be two…” he said, swaying, putting a paw to his temple, feeling a little lightheaded. “Sit,” ordered Zyra in a quiet voice so not to embarrass him in front of the others. Ardon didn’t need any further prompting and sat. “Let’s have a look at you, hero.” She added, leaning in to assess her new patient. Ardon had question but then again they all did. No answers seemed to present themselves just yet, leaving everyone in a state of confusion. Zyra diagnosed Ardon with moderate fatigue and perhaps a little dehydration. Doctor’s orders were to rest. Veyron was already directing the cleanup of the aftermath from the command center, Comox aiding where he could. “We won’t have answers this second, Ardy. You should really get some rest while you can,” she suggested. Reluctantly he nodded and with a little help from the Boldwing, he got back to his feet. “Make sure he actually rests, hm, Jack?” Zyra told him with a raised brow.

A few days later the world president was taken to another secure facility with the EA’s night watch taking over the role but there had been no further attacks or surprises for the EA or Torchwood 5, which was good as they had a massive dilemma to deal with internally. The bodies of Martin and Daniel were recovered and post mortem of the bodies showed that both men had perished in the car crash which they were assumed to of survived, with all the results passed to professor Melina for analysis. Mark had done a sterling job of tidying up and cleaning up after all the incidents, luckily the EA helped to black out the stories of destruction of the car view and bridge, saying they were engineering faults. Mark was told it would be his last week in command as Jack was now well enough to assume command, but the man worked to tie up all loose ends, even Veyron had been impressive and admirable in this situation, helping the man and coordinating efforts to keep the identity of Torchwood 5 safe. The body of the other Daniel had been collected and Melina wanted to do an autopsy and to start finding out how this man came to be and see if it was Daniel or someone who undergone surgery, she asked for Dr Sam and Dr Zyra to help to gather samples and run the information against the reports and details from the men in New York. It was an unpleasant thing but needed to be done as they obtained samples for analysis, Melina kept the body in the bases morgue until they had done all their work and then the body would be incinerated. Melian was analysing samples taken from the body and was comparing it with results and analysis done at the New York labs, she wanted to make sure it was Daniel and not a hoax, focussed on her work, looking through the microscope in her labs as she looked for anything unusual, using the medical computer to help her. Zyra approached Melina with a small tray held up in her paw, within it a number of small, sealed containers. With a slightly concerned look she set it down beside the woman. "These are the samples we collected. I ran it through the system, twice, and the analysis came back with with confirmation that this matches Daniels DNA patterns and markers reflected in the NY report." Melina looked up from the microscope and rubbed her face lightly. “Thank you, Doctor, I gotten the same results here, seems Daniel DNA and other patterns match what we got here, it is impossible, no surgery or anything odd, DNA analysis confirms they are both Daniel” the professor said to the bold wing. "But the only way that could be is a with cloning but that isn't allowed by global law isn't it?" Asked Zyra. Melina nodded. “Yes, it is heavily restricted tech, plus the cost for just Daniel and Martin would be considerable, it is really bizarre, every test we done has matched, Sam said the same with his tests, its making my brain throb” Melina said rubbing her temple. Zyra nodded, "I just don't understand it at all. That's the frustrating bit. Finding answers is going to be a process." Melina seemed to agree. “Yes, it will take time, after 5 days after this incident and we are no closer, there is nothing really to make them stick out, I think a break away would be good, some tea and a snack will help, perhaps a fly?” Melina looked at the bold wing. Melina grinned putting her work away. “Hope your ready to fly daring Doctor, I an up for it today” she said with a big grin on her face, Zyra would feel her daring and excitement bubbling through the link. "I think I can make it interesting," beamed Zyra playfully. Melina seemed to give a challenging look to the bold wing as the lab doors open, “Come on then miss…impress me” she said to the bold wing, a mischievous tint in the professor’s eyes, perhaps Brathille was bubbling underneath all of this as well. "After you," said Zyra with a bit of a spring in her step, eager to fly. Melina gave a small bow as she went ahead with enthusiasm as the two were going to go for a fly together, a great way to de stress, luckily for Zyra, Melina liked to fly fast, daring and at pace, which suited the dragoness.

Meanwhile Jack was doodling in his sketch book when an email notification came through and he got up to read his email, seeing it was locked and security coded, he opened it and was reading it with interest. "What are you reading?" asked Ardon as he itched his nose with his forearm as he lay sprawled on his sunken bed. Jack turned and chuckled lightly. “You are indeed nosy young gold, even from the bed, your too lazy to come over here to read” Jack lightly teased. "Well.... if it’s interesting then MAYBE I'll get up," he prompted. Jack tried not to roll his eyes. “Fine, I say you don’t accept 1 ton of free fresh cream cakes” Jack said turning back to read the email. "It doesn't say that," said Ardon but he still rolled to his feet to look at Jack. Jack laughed lightly seeing Ardon’s reaction. “Got you interested but no, no cream cakes, its from president Sheridan thanking us all for providing protection, he praises you highly and also of Acting Commander De Santa, in fact, Sheridan is offering him a promotion” Jack said. "To what? He's already your second," said Ardon, curious. Jack looked at Ardon, “Command of his own division, back in Los Angeles, he be in charge of the EA division there, it’s a massive promotion Ardon, he be silly to refuse it” Jack said. "Oh," said the dragon. Even though he and Mark didn't often see eye to eye, the gold had to admit he was an asset to the facility and had never failed to step up when Jack needed him, "it would be a loss for us but his family would be happy to move back home I'm sure." Jack nodded lightly. “Well I forward it to him and then I think you and me grab a bite to eat, how are you feeling, ready for your Attilu to take back command?” he asked. "I think so," smiled the dragon, "do you feel ready? “I will be I’m sure, have to go for some flying now your wings are not dragging on the floor” Jack teased. Ardon stuck out his tongue as he unfurled his wings and flapped them once, sending a gust of wind through the room, unsettling anything light enough, "I think I'm alright." He joked. “Alright wise guy, let’s grab a bite to eat” Jack said with a chuckle as they both left their quarters to go to the canteen.

Mark had seen the email with surprise, reading it he seemed amazed that the world president gave him credit and offered him a position back in LA for division head, they be back in the warm and sunny county, with his own command, more money and the family would be back where they were. Mark showed the wraith the email as the dragon was nearby, reading reports from the EA over the incidents and Torchwood 5’s won reports on Daniel and Martin but this took his interest. Veyron looked a little surprised at this, "Good for you, Mark. You're gonna take the offer?" He asked Mark seemed to sit back in his chair as he looked at the wraith. “What would you do if you were me, I would like to go back to the US but we are settled here and its pretty good here, despite the dragons” he joked lightly. Veyron made a show of pretending to think deeply, "Hm, well if I were you I'd love abandoning this rainy underground bunker for a penthouse in the sun, but, I would also be devastated to be so far from a wraith as amazing as myself." Mark laughed lightly. “Oh you be put under Jack’s watch, doing training sessions and Melina’s courses, no drink, my word you would be in hell, heck you want to go back to Kilara” he teased lightly. "Yeah on second thought, LA is a **** place. You should stay," Veyron snorted with a laugh. "Oooor, I could take your promotion, that works for me too." “Or you come with me, sun yourself and drink just like the majority of the city” Mark said to the wraith, “You might get a tan” he added. Veyron smirked at the man, "You're tryna say you'd miss me if you left and I didn't go with ya?" he asked, grinning. Mark tried not to roll his eyes. “No not at all, be nice and peaceful to leave you here, never know the 2095 Olympics are coming up, you could represent team dragon with Mel’s training” he teased the wraith. "If that happens I'm buying a one way ticket and crashing with you," said Veyron dryly, folding his arms. Mark laughed, shaking his head lightly. “I will see, got to speak with the family first, until then your stuck with me, but I appreciate your help and support over the last few days, you been an asset to the team, I make you a card so you can bargain with the compliment later” Mark said. Veyron laughed, "Thanks. I might need it one day." He paused, thinking, "Hell, I'll definitely need it." Mark smiled. “Well we best go grab a bit to eat, there is much to do and I got to think of my future, where do I want to go, same with you mr, I could do with a coffee” Mark said gesturing to his shoulder for the wraith to jump on. Veyron sprang aboard, "is it too early for something stronger?" Mark shook his head lightly. “You amaze me dragon, to drink at this hour, try a coffee first then I might allow you top shelf access” Mark said as he walked with Veyron on his shoulder, the man had much to think over and whether he would move on from Torchwood 5.